


Requiescat

by sevatics



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:55:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27961886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sevatics/pseuds/sevatics
Summary: As far as she is aware, Kitty's life began in 1943 when she wakes up in the midst of chaos. When she is taken in by Armando Dippet, Headmaster of Hogwarts, she learns that she is a witch and, late though it is, she is enrolled into student life at Hogwarts. However, she soon learns she is not everything she thought she was and her connection to Tom Riddle might just explain why exactly she's found herself at Hogwarts.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. Katherine 'Kitty' Farrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight blood mention at the start of the chapter but other than that there shouldn't be anything too triggering! The chapters are quite short to start with but I'm hoping I'll be able to make them longer. This is my first dedicated fic so I really hope you like it.

The ground was hard and dry. Something sharp dug into Kitty’s right shoulder and when she tried to move, she was subjected to searing pain all through her back. Crying out in pain, Kitty arrested any more attempts at moving. Instead, she stared up at the sky, which was darkening rapidly, and, somewhere in the distance, thunder rumbled menacingly. Directly above her loomed a skeletal tree, stripped naked of its leaves. Even faint-headed, Kitty was able to put two and two together, realising that maybe under a tree wasn’t the best place she could be. Gritting her teeth and summoning all her remaining strength, Kitty rolled onto her stomach, forcing herself over onto hands and knees and tried to stand. The strain on her shoulder was too much and white-hot pain shot through her, blinding her vision and causing bile to rise up in her throat. Tears of exertion and pain mingled with the dirt on her face as they trickled from her eyes. She sat back on her knees, trying to compose herself. To clear her head and forget the pain. In the distance, she could see smoke and some wreckage, a melee of timber and metal. It might have been her imagination but she thought she heard a horse. The salty taste of the tears that had slid onto her lips became metallic and, in confusion, Kitty reached a hand to her mouth. Blood. The sky had darkened considerably now and lightning flashed nearby. Making a quick decision, Kitty fell to her hands and knees again, crawling away from the tree. She needed to find help, somewhere or someone. Anyone really. Her vision blurred and her head spun from the strain but she pushed herself forward regardless. The effort, however, was too much and Kitty’s world went dark as she passed out once more.

Her eyes were heavy and so difficult to open that Kitty was sure they had been glued together. Above her, a glinting spec of gold appeared, like a very decadent fly. It irritated her, and she raised her hands to swat it away, but her leaden arms refused to move. The world slowly became less blurry and the glint of gold became a man with little gold glasses. He was a funny-looking man, in fact, he looked so odd that she half convinced herself she was dreaming. Alas, she was not. He was not a small man, he seemed quite tall standing over her with his long beard, that was a light auburn colour, brushing the sheets covering her. He smiled at her in an attempt, she assumed, to reassure her but it only deepened her distrust for his eyes remained hard and cold. To the right there was another man, also standing over her. He too had a beard although this one was much shorter and much whiter, it almost seemed full of experience. His face was harsh and pinched, Kitty thought he looked as if he'd had a stressful time of it. However, at the sight of her open, curious eyes, he broke into a wide grin which softened the edges of his somewhat severe features. His eyes crinkled and he turned to a woman, standing at the foot of the bed, who echoed his wide grin although hers seemed to be composed of relief rather than joy at Kitty awakening. Her grey dress, which was mostly covered by a white pinafore apron, seemed like a second skin to her and gave a nurse-like impression, which Kitty decided was what she was. Much like the second man, this woman had harsh features and small, stern eyes, although she was as round as a polka dot. The woman (who, until Kitty knows her name, shall be referred to as Nurse) quickly wiped the smile off her face and, with a more business-like manner, bustled round to Kitty's side clutching a glass of water. Nurse then gave it to Kitty, who was scarcely able to lift it to her lips and had to drink it slowly. When her throat felt sufficiently wet enough to talk, Kitty asked the question that had been burning at her lips the minute she woke up. 

"Where am I?"

Any impression Nurse had given that implied she would be sympathetic to Kitty evaporated, and she glared at the two old men, who (and quite rightfully) looked slightly ashamed of themselves and shuffled where they stood. A moment of silence ensued and with a _humph_ Nurse stormed out. The sound of the door slamming behind her shook the room and the kinder-looking old man flinched a little then, smoothing down his robes (which now Kitty was looking at them, seemed quite odd), turned to her with a sympathetic smile. 

"I'm afraid we can't tell you that, young Katherine. However, I'm sure you'll be out of here in no time at all." He chuckled and took off his glasses to wipe the mist that had appeared off them. If she had been less distracted, Kitty might have thought it was odd that he knew her name, especially when she hadn’t introduced herself.

The one with the gold glasses seized his chance and leaned forwards, "Do you, by any chance, remember anything about what caused the accident? Anything at all?"

Kitty shook her head, frowning. "There was an accident?'

"We believe you were part of it"

"Oh." Looking down, Kitty played with a loose thread on the blanket. She had been in an accident, but who had she been with? Not giving her time to mull things over, the atmosphere suddenly darkened as the two men took a seat either side of her, faces suddenly grave. For a moment, she remained looking at her hands, unsure which man to turn to. It was an uncomfortable silence, and in the end, she turned to the kinder looking man, whose name she still did not know. In fact, she didn't know either of their names, which was odd, to say the least. She suddenly had a desperate desire to flee this place. 

The old man smiled at her sadly, "Katherine, there were three other people in the wreckage."

"Oh?"

"We think they might be your family."

"Oh."

They paused to let her mourn the loss of a family she couldn't even remember. A strange kind of grief. Then the silence, and her thoughts, were intruded upon.

"Now, see here, the reason that we found you... well, it was because magic had been used and... and we think that's what caused the crash" The man's long beard seemed hardly able to keep up with his words, as he stumbled over them. Her dislike for him deepened.

"Albus!" the other man hissed at him, furious for this blatant disregard for her feelings. Kitty's ears perked up. So, one of them was called Albus?

Albus pressed on, ignoring him. "Do you have magic, young Katherine?"

She shook her head furiously, "Look, I really don't know what you're talking about"

He was relentless, searching for answers she didn't have, "See here... We know that magic was the reason for the crash, is there really nothing you remember? Don't feel as if you have to hide anything. Anything at all you can tell us."

She pressed herself back against the bed, slightly frightened, and the other man barked, "Albus!", snapping Albus out of his interrogation. He sat back, sulky: a sight that amused Kitty for he very much resembled an overgrown child. 

The other man leaned forwards, awkwardly trying to repair the damage Albus had done. "Don't worry about any of this, we'll figure out what happened. In the meantime, get some rest. We'll come back when you've recovered," turning to Albus, who was still glowering at him, he snapped, "Come now, Albus." The two men stood up and hurried out of the room, Albus somewhat reluctantly. 

Nurse returned with some medicine that didn't look appealing in the slightest, angrily muttering to herself, "-muggle medicine indeed! She won't ever recover if they won't let me treat her." she scoffed again, to herself, "Muggle medicine! Of all things!" She stopped as she arrived at Kitty's bed, shoving a cap of medicine under her nose, which wrinkled at the smell. A severe look from Nurse quickly put aside her thoughts of rejecting it and Kitty gulped it down suppressing the urge to retch as the sickly medicine slid down her throat. It burned and she wondered what she'd been given. However, she wasn't given time to worry about it as, while she wasn't looking, Nurse had poked her with a stick and muttered something which followed with her eyes starting to droop and she fell back into the darkness of slumber. 

When she woke, she was alone. Stretching out and regaining the strength in her limbs, which had felt quite floppy, she slowly slipped out of bed. With her mind still foggy, she realised she was covered in what seemed to be a sheet and it took her some time to process what she was wearing before she realised it was a gown of some sort. She staggered over to a window on the far side and looked out hoping maybe she could climb out there. Looking out of the window, her stomach dropped. She was much too high to climb down, with the orange-tinted clouds so low she couldn't even see the grounds.

Without thinking, she turned on her heel and stumbled towards the great doors. They were heavy and she was only able to push them open enough for her to slip out. She ran down the first flight of stairs, not noticing the paintings begin to whisper as she passed. Arriving at the bottom of the first flight, she heard voices and quickly shrunk back into a shadowy alcove, watching two girls, seemingly younger than her, scurry past giggling. they were dressed oddly and Kitty frowned at their long robes and colourful scarves. She took another step back to find something sharp poking into her back. Spinning around in shock, she came face to face with an oddly dressed boy with messy dark blonde hair and an equal look of surprise on his face. He too had a scarf on, his was yellow, contrasting vibrantly against his black robes. They stood there, silently gaping at each other. 

He was the first to break it. "Who are you?"

Her mouth opened but nothing came out. She closed it quickly, fear filling up in the pit of her stomach.

Then, the corners of his mouth twitched up and he broke into an embarrassed smile. "I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Teddy, Teddy Branstone." He held out a hand, which Kitty looked at warily. After a brief moment of thought, she forced herself to smile and took his hand. 

What happened next, however, was entirely unexpected. Teddy was thrown back against the wall as if she had pushed him. Of course, she had done nothing of the sort. He slid down and lay on the floor, crumpled like a rag doll. Trembling, Kitty paused, uncertain whether to flee the scene or help him. Her guilt won over and she ran to him, kneeling over to see if he was breathing, she awkwardly patted his face, unsure of what else to do. Cradling his head in her hands, she checked it for blood and to her relief, she found none. She had been so preoccupied with Teddy, she hadn't noticed a man in one of the paintings rush out. If she had, she might have convinced herself she was dreaming because paintings most definitely do not move. The man in the painting was Edgar Strougler, and he had alerted the first adult he had come across. Luckily for Kitty, it was the kind old man who had been in the infirmary with her, and he soon rushed into the alcove to find the two teenagers sitting on the floor, Teddy unconscious in Kitty's arms. Kitty turned her face to him, shining with the tears that had formed their own paths down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what happened, we just shook hands and then he-" She broke off and looked away with a sob. The old man spoke to the paintings ordering them to retrieve a Pomfrey, whatever that was, and chaos ensued as they climbed over each other, with gallant shouts, to be the first. A significantly large crowd of people had gathered in the alcove, but the old man, clearly of some authority, sent them away although he wasn't able to stop the rumours from spreading. 

He put a hand on Kitty's shoulder, who jumped in surprise. "Come now, it's going to be okay. We'll make sure he's all better. How about you come with me and tell me what happened." 

She nodded and, though reluctant to leave Teddy, she stood up laying him gently down and followed the man. They walked in silence down the corridors, not meeting anyone on their way. In this short time, Kitty was properly able to take in her surroundings, and her mouth remained open in awe for the duration of their walk. She stared at the paintings as they walked, craning her neck to look at the staircase behind them as it rotated clockwise, and was taken aback by a faint figure who tipped his head in greeting at the old man. They arrived at a statue of a grotesque monster, which to her surprise, stepped aside when the old man muttered something she didn’t quite catch. A staircase was revealed and Kitty tentatively followed him up. The statue stepped back into place and the light from the corridor was shut off, temporarily plunging them into scary darkness. As if by magic, light once again filled the staircase and they continued up, without a word.

Reaching the top, the narrow staircase opened out into a large and beautiful circular room, whose walls were covered in portraits of people who seemed to be... sleeping? Two large pillars framed a large wooden desk at the back of the room, with an elegant chair behind it where the old man had sat down. Behind it, the wall was a bookshelf, holding more books than Kitty had seen in her life. A fire flickered and spat in the corner of the room, changing colours every so often. A large table covered in manuscripts sat near to the fire, inspiring anxiety in Kitty's heart, for that was definitely no place to keep loose papers. She hoped they weren't important.

"Katherine, please, come over here." She snapped out of her thoughts and made her way to his desk. He gestured in front of him, as if for her to sit down, except there wasn't a chair. She looked around, a little lost as to what she should do, when a chair pulled up behind her. She gasped as it moved forwards, gently sweeping her feet from under her and seating her. Open-mouthed, she stared at the chair and then up at the old man, whose eyes twinkled.

"Would you like some tea?" A teapot was hovering over two cups that had appeared on the table. She nodded slowly, never taking her eyes off the teapot, which elegantly poured tea into two cups before disappearing with a pop. A milk jug appeared on the desk in front of her, and she hesitantly picked it up. When nothing happened, she poured some milk into her tea. Taking a delicate sip, she took her chance to look around the room again. On the desk lay some parchment and a quill in an ink pot. Some books were piled up, with bizarre titles such as Theories of Transubstantial Transfiguration and An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe. Hurriedly, she looked away from the books, her mind racing with possibilities. It was then that she realised the man was talking to her "...be better for you to stay here as this is the safest place, and we've looked into your family and you don't seem to have any other relatives."

Kitty frowned at him, "Excuse me? You looked into me?"

He stammered and shifted in his seat, "Well.. I just mean that.. I didn't mean to... I mean, in effect you are..."

"I'm an orphan?" She felt numb, she'd lost a whole family she couldn't even remember she had.

His eyes softened and filled with a deep sadness, "I am truly sorry, my dear."

Kitty looked down at her cup of tea, suddenly taking an interest in the floating leaves. After a moment's thought, she looked up again "And Teddy? Will he be okay?" Thinking of his frail form on the floor, she suddenly felt very, very small. She had hurt someone.

The kind old man nodded, "Teddy will be just fine, although he'll wake up with a nasty headache." Reddening in shame, Kitty's eyes lowered to her feet, she hadn't meant to do anything to him - she wasn't even sure how she had.

"How long was I asleep for?"

The Headmaster chuckled to himself and, standing up abruptly, the old man strode over to a cupboard and opened the doors. As Kitty watched in confusion, he pulled out an old, moth-bitten, pointed hat. Her brow furrowed as she tried to understand the significance of such a worn hat. The old man caught her eye and smiled, his eyes twinkling with merriment, "You were asleep for almost two days. Some parties argue that you have far outstayed your welcome, but I believe you should be given a chance to prove yourself." 

Returning to his desk, the Headmaster placed the hat on the table. Plucking up her courage to ask what on earth was happening, Kitty opened her mouth to speak, "If you don't mind-"

With a wave of his hand, she fell silent. Leaning forwards in his chair, he pushed the hat across the desk. "Put it on."

"Pardon me?"

"If the hat speaks, you can stay here. However, if the hat remains silent then your memory will be wiped and I'm afraid we'll have to send you to an orphanage."

What he was saying sounded insane but Kitty's stomach filled with dread at the thought of being sent away to an orphanage. Her hands shaking, she reached for the hat, taking it by the brim. Slowly, she lowered it onto her head and waited. For a moment, it was silent, then, scaring the life out of her, she heard a voice inside her head. 

"Well, well. What do we have here? Aren't you a little late? Old, too." There was a sigh and Kitty felt the hat shift on her head. "Very powerful indeed. Well, at least your path is clear." Silence again. Then, this time aloud, the hat said something even more strange than anything she had heard so far. "HUFFLEPUFF."

Wide-eyed and trembling, Kitty stared at the old man who rested his chin on his hands, narrowing his eyes. After what felt like aeons of silence, the old man spoke. "Hufflepuff? How unexpected. I will escort you to your house then, Katherine. We can sort out further logistics tomorrow." He rose from his chair and reached for the hat which was still on Kitty's head.

"Kitty."

"Sorry?" He pulled back in surprise. 

"My name is Kitty, not Katherine." She pulled the hat off her head herself and stood up, her chin out, waiting for him to challenge her. 

He just stood there and stared at her. Then he nodded and held out his hand, "Armando Dippet, Headmaster of Hogwarts. The students refer to me as Headmaster or Headmaster Dippet." Kitty took his hand and shook it with a small smile. Professor Dippet made to leave but doubled back and, taking it from the table, he returned the hat to its cupboard. Shutting the cupboard doors, he turned back to her, "Shall we go?" 

Kitty nodded and made to follow him before she realised she was still in her nightgown, "Professor Dippet? Shouldn't I change my clothes first?" She gestured down at the white nightgown she still had on.

The corner of the Headmaster's mouth twitched and he nodded, "You're right, of course, Miss Farrow. I almost forgot." He pulled out a small wooden stick and tapped her on the shoulder with it. A strange sensation trickled down Kitty's body as if her clothes were melting. She looked down and saw they were melting, in a sense. Her white nightgown seemed to be turning a darker shade as if someone had thrown paint on it and stretching out to form dark robes. A yellow tie, the same shade as Teddy's scarf, wrapped itself around her neck, underneath the collar of a shirt that had appeared. After a short time, Kitty's outfit was changed. She now looked a lot like the girls she'd seen when she first left the hospital, although her colours were the same as Teddy's.

With a nod of affirmation, the Headmaster spun on his heel and led Kitty from his office, in the direction of Hufflepuff.


	2. Where the magic happens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tw for internalised racism.

kitty

The Hufflepuff common room was hidden in the basements of the castle, next to the kitchens. Kitty was sure that, had she been sent on her own, she would have gotten lost. Luckily for her, Professor Dippet had accompanied her all the way to a painting of a bowl of fruit. It was there that they had been met by a short, stocky Jamaican girl whose bubblegum pink afro was complemented by the yellow hue of the kitchen corridor. The girl, who introduced herself as Violine (Vi for short), grabbed Kitty by the hand leading her out of sight of the headmaster. As they rounded a corner, stopping by some old barrels stacked on top of one another, Vi turned to Kitty with a small smirk.

"This is where the magic happens!" With a flourish, Vi shook up her sleeve which was covering her hand.

"Isn't this a magic school" Kitty grinned back, her whole body tingling with excitement.

Rolling her eyes, Vi chucked Kitty under the chin, "Watch and learn, Katherine. Watch and learn." Reaching out, she tapped one of the barrels (two from the bottom, middle of the second row) in a peculiar rhythm. Resisting the urge to giggle, Kitty watched as Vi stood back and let the barrels process (if it could be described like that) her password. Then, to Kitty's surprise, the barrels rolled aside, revealing a door tall enough for the girls to walk through comfortably. Vi pushed Kitty forward and, as she stumbled through the door, her lips mouthed Vi's words from earlier.

_Where the magic happens._

The Hufflepuff common room was spacious and light filtered through the large, round windows on the ceiling. Plants hung from every spare bit of space with blooming wisteria covering the walls and all sorts of what Kitty supposed to be magical plants hanging from the ceiling. A fireplace sat at the far end of the room with soft orange flames licking its walls. Above the fireplace, a portrait of a plump witch gazed over the common room, looking very kindly indeed. A handful of students were scattered across the room, sprawled on the sofas and floor, working on long pieces of parchment. Some waved at Vi, who responded with a wide smile, as she entered the common room. Even Kitty received some friendly smiles and various waves.

Leaving the common room, Vi showed Kitty through to another open room. This one had 5 beds tucked into alcoves, each with a window next to them providing a picturesque view onto the grounds. Sunlight streamed through the small circular windows on the right side of the room, providing a much-needed boost for the plants that decorated most of the dormitory. Each bed had been personalised by their occupants, photos were stuck up on walls, posters too. Every individual corner was decorated, except one. In the far corner lay an empty bed, void of personality. Kitty glanced at Vi, an eyebrow raised.

"Is this one mine?"

Vi nodded, "You'll be next to me. I hope that's okay and all, there isn't really much of a choice." She was still smiling and Kitty wondered if she smiled all the time, or if she was just genuinely happy to be here.

She wandered over to her bed and ran her hand wonderingly over the sheets. They were incredibly soft and, when Kitty sat down on the bed, she thought she could never get up. She succumbed to the soft sheets lay back, her legs dangling over the edge of the bed. The alcove was naked in comparison to her dormmates' yet Kitty couldn't imagine how she would decorate hers. The other girls had some six years of memories here, this was their home. She was an intruder. The magic of this small corner of the school evaporated and Kitty sat up abruptly. An intruder. What was she doing here? The growing conflict between the urge to find out who she was but being restricted by not knowing where she could even start proved too much for Kitty who, honestly, had been increasingly overwhelmed from the minute she woke up in the hospital room. She burst into tears.

"Oh, dear. Don't cry Kitty, its okay, its okay." Vi rushed over and squeezed in next to Kitty, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her into a hug. "Tell me whats wrong."

Kitty sobbed into Vi's shoulder, incapable of forming a coherent sentence. She felt so stupid for crying in front of someone she barely knew, which only made her cry harder. Vi didn't push her to talk and just held her tight, stroking her hair and whispering small comforts. 

The girls returned to the common room, which had totally emptied out in the time they had been in the dorm. 

"Lessons," Vi explained, "I've been excused, because of you. Not that I'm complaining, I'd much rather be with you than in lessons." Kitty felt a rush of happiness and caught Vi's eye with a small smile. As confidently as ever, Vi launched into showing Kitty around the common room, "Here we have the sofas and stuff, it's where we all come together to socialise, I guess? We have a separate soft area where people prefer to study and stuff. It's like the unspoken rule of the house, that we keep studying and socialising separate, if that makes sense? Over here, we have a lovely portrait of our founder, Helga Hufflepuff. She doesn't talk much but she's dead helpful if you need advice or anything. Oh! If you look up you can see the sky through the skylight, a lot of people often don't even notice or appreciate it, which it deserves because it is spectacular. Through there is some more dorms where the first years have all moved in, they're very sweet. We actually don't separate the boys and the girls. I mean, we do in the dorms themselves, but I heard that Gryffindor has separate towers for boys and girls. We just couldn't do that here, I don't know if I could function without Charlie knocking on my door every five seconds. You know, in Gryffindor the boys can't even go into the girls' tower. Septimus Weasley (he's seventh year and engaged), told me that the stairs become a slide, I know... right? Yeah, apparently it's because boys are less mature and stuff, which obviously I agree with, but a good locking charm will keep them out of the dorm and they tend not to come in anyway. It helps them to learn about respecting privacy and- Goodness, Kitty are you okay?"

Kitty was on the floor, blinking confusedly up at Vi. A tiny furry creature scuttled under the sofa next to her, unnoticed by either girl. Kitty took Vi's outstretched hand and pulled herself back up, dusting down her legs. 

"You daft melon, you gave me a fright and a half! What happened there?"

"I have no idea, I could have sworn I tripped over something but there's nothing there." Kitty glanced back at where she had tripped in confusion. She was sure she'd fallen over something small, but the floor was bare. "This is where the magic happens, I suppose."

Eyes meeting, they snorted with laughter.

violine

Vi gazed at Kitty as the new girl stared open-mouthed at the common room. Golden sunlight spilt through the skylights, setting Kitty's red hair on fire. They had been sat by the fireplace for about 10 minutes now as Kitty recovered from her fall (she was still suffering from a bruised bum). Vi had to admit that the Hufflepuff common room really was the prettiest out of the four houses. It would be impossible to not feel at home here. The house was always a perfect temperature, it was light in here almost all the time (regardless of the weather) and the air they breathed was pure and sweet thanks to the varieties of plants strung up around the area. She was glad to be a Hufflepuff and couldn't imagine being anywhere else. She could also understand the look of pure delight that was painted on Kitty's face for she was sure that, as a first-year, she had looked the same.

A small painting of a catswort plant swung open and Helga ambled through from the grounds, catching Kitty's eye. 

"Ooooh! What a sweet creature!" Kitty knelt down and crooned at the cat, making little noises to get her attention. "Who does he belong to?"

" _She_ belongs to the house," Vi tried not to be too annoyed at the assumption that Helga was a boy, it was a common enough one to make, "her name is Helga Hufflepuss and she's even smaller than she looks but she makes up for it in fluff. Like us Hufflepuffs, she is kind enough but she won't take any nonsense." Kitty paid Vi no attention for Helga had made her way onto her lap and was purring loudly. Once again, Vi was enraptured by Kitty's beauty. Her burning red hair seemed out of place in the Hufflepuff common room, Vi wasn't sure if Hufflepuff even had any redheads, she was sure Davy Buchanan had coppery brown hair and, _maybe_ , Beth Wedgewood's strawberry blonde hair ever so slightly verged on ginger. But nobody had as vibrant hair as Kitty. It wasn't just gorgeous in colour, it was thick and long and it tumbled down her back in curls and waves. Vi reached up to her own hair, poufy and coarse. She hated it. She hated it so much she wanted to tear it all off and switch it with Kitty's. Tears filled her eyes and Vi stood up abruptly, hand falling from her head. 

"Is everything okay?" Kitty was staring at Vi, her amber eyes filled with worry. She gently pushed Helga off her lap and came over to Vi, touching her arm gently. "What's the matter, Vi? Sit down a minute, we can talk." 

"Nothing," her voice came out breathless and small, "I just need to... I need to go to the bathroom quickly. Won't be a minute!" With that she darted off, guiltily leaving behind a very confused Katherine Farrow. 

The Vi in the mirror was blotchy and tear-stained. Her hands clenched the sides of the washbasin and she tried to avoid making eye contact with herself. She needed to pull herself together right now, and her reflection wasn't exactly helping her mood. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop wishing her hair was as beautiful as Kitty's or Charlotte Seymour's. _God_ , Charlotte had the prettiest hair. Like Kitty's, Charlotte's hair tumbled in waves down her back, although her locks were golden. Envy flooded through Vi once more and she looked up at the mirror. She hated looking at herself, tried to avoid looking at her hair as well as she could. But now, she couldn't tear her eyes away. Her eyes were wonky and plain brown, her nose was wide and flat, and her lips too big. She thought of Kitty, with her honeyed brown eyes, the scattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks, the small dimple in her right cheek that appeared when she bit back a smile, the ready blush that had lightly decorated her cheeks when she fell. Kitty with the concerned eyes who had asked her if she was okay, who had barely known Vi for more than an hour but had been so gentle and open in offering comfort. At the thought of Kitty, Vi was flooded with shame. Ashamed of herself for fleeing the common room, for abandoning Kitty when she had been tasked with looking after her. She stared at her reflection, speaking sternly to herself.

"Pull yourself together. Right now, Violine Gabrielle Jada Bardaux. Your parents didn't name you the purple gift from god for no reason! You are-"

_Purple!_

Vi lit up with inspiration, feeling magic flood her body. She'd been pink for far too long now, it belonged in the summer holidays, not in the new school year. Any reasons for being upset at all had vanished with the thought of changing her hair colour and Vi made her way back to the common room, a new skip in her step.

Kitty was exactly where she'd left her as if she hadn't quite known what to do without Vi. She looked lost, desolate even, but Vi's infectious excitement quickly wiped that look from her face. 

"Come with me, Miss Farrow. I've had an idea but I'll need your help to execute it. If you wouldn't mind, of course? I can tell you some more about Hogwarts while we do it." 

"Uh...sure, of course. I... What do you want me to do? What do _you_ want to do?" Those pretty brown eyes shone in relief and Vi felt guilty for inciting so much worry in the girl in the first place.

Vi clapped her hands together in delight, "We're moving on from pink! I've heard purple is all the rage this year and, well, if it isn't then it will be." The redhead's gorgeous face split into a dazzling grin that clenched at Vi's heart and she nodded, following Vi as she turned and headed back towards the bathroom she'd been crying in only 10 minutes before.

She could have changed her hair colour in about 5 seconds but Vi really wanted to do it the long way, so Kitty could properly experience her first bit of magic. So she spent about 20 minutes finding her dyeing spell, and, once she had figured out how to manipulate the spell to make her hair purple, the girls were ready to start.

Except, they reached their first snag. Kitty didn't have a wand. Vi bit her lip in thought. She couldn't lend Kitty her wand, that could cause all sorts of issues that Vi wasn't quite equipped to cope with. She also wanted Kitty's first real experience with magic to be a positive one. 

"What if we.." Kitty trailed off, evidently she had been hoping an idea would come to her as she spoke but hadn't been lucky. The girls looked at each other despondently. Already their plan was falling to shambles. "I'm sorry, Vi. It's my fault you can't do this if I only had a wand I'd be able to help. I'm really sorry."

"Stop apologising, you egg. It's not your fault. We can do this without a wand, I'm sure. I just have to think," a bucket in the corner caught Vi's eye, "and I think I've found the perfect solution."

Kitty caught on, glancing over at the bucket, which was closest to her, and leaned over to grab it. Checking inside it before picking it up seemed to be a smart move, as Kitty wrinkled her delicate nose and chucked the contents in the loo. Vi thought carefully about her newly forming plan, as Kitty rinsed out the insides of the bucket. At the same time as she finally figured out what she was going to do, Kitty plopped the bucket down between them and sat cross-legged opposite Vi. 

"So...What are we doing then?"

Vi pulled the empty bucket towards her as Kitty watched on in interest. "We're going to make the dye in this bucket and just pour it on my head. It should work but you're going to have to do the dirty work." She gazed at Kitty in mock seriousness while the other girl smirked.

"What kind of dirty work," she used her fingers as quotation marks, mimicking Vi's mock seriousness, "are you proposing?"

An evil smile tugged at the corners of Vi's mouth, "you have to massage my hair." 

Kitty laughed loudly, her eyes crinkling at the corners, and Vi delighted in the fact she had made her laugh so easily. "Done. Now show me your magic, witch." 

Vi knew it was silly, but she felt the utmost pressure to do it as perfectly as possible. Taking a deep breath, she leaned forwards and tapped the side of the bucket, whispering _aguamenti_. She hadn't meant to whisper, but she saw the curiosity cross Kitty's face and liked the mysterious element to it. The bucket, however, did not care for 'mysterious' and promptly filled up with water, making it clear what Vi's spell had done. Oh well, things couldn't be perfect. She straightened up again, wiggling her eyebrows at Kitty, who giggled. "Now for the real magic." She focused really hard on the shade of purple she wanted and spoke clearly and carefully, "piluvaria violaceus". With relief, she saw that the water had thickened and turned a vibrant shade of purple.

"It worked!" Kitty stared at the thick purple liquid in awe. "So... do I just pour this on your head?" She reached for the bucket, a little too gleefully, and Vi quickly cast the _impervius_ charm on her robes. Just in time as well, for Kitty turned the bucket over and dumped it on Vi's hair. Her impervius charm had worked wonderfully, and the dye slid off her robes onto the bathroom floor. Her eyes had squeezed shut instinctively and she groped for a towel to wipe her face with. They hadn't quite thought that far. A small handtowel was pressed into her hands and she wiped her face gratefully. When she finally opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Kitty's face, alight with wonder and joy. Vi was pleased she'd chosen to do this the long way, she was sure a simple colour-changing charm on her hair would have been underwhelming. 

"Well...aren't you going to massage it into my hair?" She demanded jokingly. 

Kitty gave a wicked grin, "I thought you'd never ask."

kitty

The journey to Professor Dippet's office was long and complicated as Kitty had to come up from the bottom of the castle, where the Hufflepuff common room was situated. It didn't help that she was late. A bit out of breath, her cheeks flushed from her run, she panted the password to get into the office. Stepping past it, she let the stairs carry her up and tried to get her breath back. Dippet's office was bright, the morning light streaming through the high windows. There was no need for a fire yet there was one, crackling merrily in the fireplace.

"Ah, Miss Farrow. I thought you wouldn't make it." Professor Dippet stepped out from behind his desk with a small smile. "Just in time, as well. I was about to come looking for you."

Her cheeks reddened with embarrassment and she looked at her feet. She and Vi had been so caught up with dyeing Vi's hair they hadn't noticed the time flying by, not to mention that Vi herself had forgotten to let Kitty know she needed to return to the Headmaster's office. The two girls had run all the way from their dorm room, and Vi had left Kitty at the end of the so-called Gargoyle corridor, apparently, most students didn't actually know where the Headmaster's office was. Dippet chuckled and Kitty looked up in surprise.

"Come. Sit." He waved his wand and a chair appeared in front of his desk. She tentatively moved to it and sat down, her legs shaking slightly. On the desk, there lay a blank sheet of paper with just Kitty's name on it. She stared in confusion while Professor Dippet moved some papers that had been left a small bit too close to the fire.

"-Sure it won't take you too long to understand." Kitty wasn't sure when the Headmaster had started talking to her but she realised she'd missed whatever he'd started saying. Apparently not noticing, the Headmaster ploughed on. "Now onto the matter of your lessons. As a sixth year, you can choose anything you like to study. However, whilst every student is doing five N.E.W.Ts, you're only going to do four as you will require extra tutoring to catch up to your peers." Noting her look of confusion, he explained, "N.E.W.Ts are exams that every witch and wizard take in their final year of school. Without N.E.W.Ts, you cannot go on into a career in the wizarding world."

"If I only have four N.E.W.T.s, does that make any difference to what I can do?"

"You couldn't be an Auror-"

"A what?"

"A sort of law enforcer, a very popular career choice for many students. However, I don't feel as though that would be your sort of thing."

Kitty nodded, she liked the idea of it but she was sure it wouldn't be the end of the world if she couldn't do it.

Clearing his throat, Dippet continued, "The subjects we have available are Defence against the Dark Arts (you'll learn offensive and defensive skills here) , Astronomy (where you'll study the movement of the stars), Charms (you'll learn all sorts of spells), Herbology (magical plants and so forth), History of Magic (I believe this is relatively self-explanatory), Potions (I assume you know what a potion is, it's a rather complicated N.E.W.T. class but Professor Slughorn will be happy to help), Transfiguration (where you'll be changing the form or appearance of an object), Care of Magical Creatures, and Divination (this is a relatively vague subject on reading the future). Please read these before you make your final decision. Would you like some more time to think about it or will 10 minutes suffice?"

Gathering all the papers Dippet had given her, Kitty began to skim through each one, noting the varying aspects of the different subjects.

After about 5 minutes, Kitty had narrowed it down to 6 subjects: Defence against the Dark Arts, Charms, Astronomy, Transfiguration, Potions and Care of Magical Creatures. Reading through the subject descriptions and requirements carefully, Kitty realised she couldn't study them all and she'd have to narrow it down to 4.

Fifteen minutes had passed when Professor Dippet cleared his throat. "Are you ready, Miss Farrow?"

With one quick scan of her choices, Kitty nodded. "I couldn't choose only four but I'm willing to put in the extra work for 5 subjects and I can always drop one if I need to."

"That's perfectly fine, I'm glad to see your enthusiasm for the subjects we offer... and which ones did you choose?"

She hesitated, her stomach filled with butterflies and her heart beating so loud she was sure Professor Dippet could hear it. "I'd like to do Defence against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions and Care of Magical Creatures. If that's okay with you?" She stared wide-eyed at Professor Dippet, hoping he would approve of her choices. When had she been so reliant on his approval?

To her relief, the Headmaster nodded, a hint of a smile on his lips. "I have a feeling you will excel at these subjects, Miss Farrow. I will send for you tomorrow morning, and we shall collect your school supplies. Then you can begin your lessons. For now, here's your timetable." He touched the blank sheet of paper Kitty had seen earlier and it filled with her new timetable.

Kitty's face fell, "I can't start today?"

Much to Kitty's annoyance, Professor Dippet chuckled, "Not today, Miss Farrow. I'm afraid I have some things to do before we make our trip to Diagon Alley. You may return to the Hufflepuff common room for now... If you really want, you can explore the castle. Just don't enter any classrooms and interrupt lessons, please."

Kitty nodded, slightly crestfallen at having to wait a whole day before she could actually learn anything. She made to leave, still clutching the subject papers, but remembered her timetable, still on the desk. Wanting to get back to Hufflepuff as quickly as possible, she turned back and grabbed it before walking as fast as she could out of the office.

About an hour had passed since she had returned from the Headmaster's office and Kitty was feeling rather miserable. She had explored Hufflepuff as thoroughly as she could and had even found a passageway to a greenhouse filled with the most beautiful flowers she had ever seen. She flopped onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling, wondering how on earth she was going to pass the time until tomorrow. It was then, looking at the ceiling, that she remembered what the Headmaster had said.

If you really want, you can explore the castle.

Springing off her bed with this new realisation, Kitty hummed to herself as she made her way to the door, which fell open just as she reached for the handle. As she lay sprawled on the ground, Kitty couldn't help noticing that she seemed to be making a habit of falling to the floor of the Hufflepuff common room. A hand reached out to help her up and she took it. Dusting herself down, she looked up to thank her helper and cried out in shock. It was none other than Teddy Branstone. His lips quirked into a smile at the look of shock on her face, and much like their first meeting, Kitty couldn't help but smile back. They both started to speak at once, equally surprised to see each other.

"How are you feeling? I didn't expect to see you here."

"Are you okay? Why are you here?"

They both blushed and Teddy gestured towards the door out. "Do you want to walk and talk?"

Unable to find the right words to reply, Kitty simply nodded and followed Teddy as he led the way to the main school.

The corridor was dimly lit and Teddy led her up out of the lower levels of the castle. Teddy still leading, they walked the more sunlight corridors of the school.

Kitty broke the silence first, "How are you feeling since-" She couldn't bring herself to say what happened.

"I'm okay. I woke up with a splitting headache about an hour ago but Pomfrey had just the potion for that and I was well enough to leave in about 40 minutes." Noting the guilt written plainly over Kitty's face, he added, "It was honestly nothing. I was fixed the minute I woke up and I got the day off lessons. So if anything, you actually helped me out."

Kitty returned his smile, although hers was significantly smaller, "I'm sorry I did that to you. You were nothing but nice to me."

He rubbed the back of his neck and scrunched his face in thought, "Have you seen the grounds?"

"What?"

"Have you seen the school grounds? I'm just wondering because if you haven't then I'll take you out there now before the weather changes. However, if you have, I can just keep showing you the castle instead. Personally, I think it's a splendid day and we should appreciate the sun while we still have it. Then I'll take you to dinner which is in a couple hours."

Kitty smiled again. "I would love to see the grounds."


End file.
